1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an apparatus for holding a nursing bottle for an infant.
It is highly desirable when bottle feeding an infant to hold both the child and the bottle, particularly if the child is very young. This is important, not only because the infant is incapable of supporting and controlling the bottle by himself, but also for the psychological comfort of the child and satisfaction of the parent. However, as every parent well knows, there are times when other pressing duties make this virtually impossible so that feeding of the infant must either be delayed or interrupted to the irritation of both parent and child. Furthermore, as the infant begins to mature, his psychological need to be held during feeding decreases. At the same time the child gains increasing strength and dexterity of the head, neck, hands, arms, etc. so that he becomes capable of at least partially controlling the nursing bottle though still incapable of firmly gripping and supporting it. At this age the child enjoys trying to grasp and manipulate the bottle and such activity helps to improve his motor skills, but unless some auxiliary support is provided, he is likely to drop the bottle out of his own reach and possibly spill the milk or injure himself. Accordingly, it is highly desirable that a safe and practical holder apparatus be provided to allow an infant to nurse itself.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, various devices have been devised for holding nursing bottles. However, none of these have been entirely satisfactory. One problem with these prior art holders is that they have not provided for adequate angular adjustment of the bottle position. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,028,133 to Craig. In this device the bottle is vertically adjustable and angularly pivotable but only in the vertical direction. Thus, the device does not provide for sufficient universal movement of the bottle to accommodate the stirring of an active baby. Even if the baby is quiet, it is highly desirable that the bottle be angularly adjustable in three mutually perpendicular directions so that the nipple can be comfortably positioned in the baby's mouth regardless of the position of his head.
In other devices, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,629,156 and 2,828,097, the bottle swings freely on one or more chains, elastic straps, or the like. This arrangement allows a more universal type of movement but is unacceptable in that there is too much freedom of movement, or in other words, insufficient control of the movement. A slight movement of the bottle by the baby can send the bottle swinging and/or bouncing about so that the child cannot catch it and may even be injured by it. Furthermore, the bottle always tends to swing back to its undisturbed position. The baby will not usually be strong enough to maintain the bottle in a different angular position than this undisturbed position for any length of time, and the bottle cannot, if desired, be fixed at a given angle other than the undisturbed position. Finally, these devices fail to provide for vertical adjustment of the height of the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,909,345 to Matsuoka shows a device which supports the bottle on a flexible wire, which allows it to bounce, but does not provide for angular adjustment during nursing.
Another problem with many of the prior art devices is that their bases have not provided sufficiently stable support rendering them impractical and even dangerous. Some of them include bases which rest on the bed, floor, etc. beside the baby and bottle support means which extend from the base in cantilever fashion with no other auxiliary support. In some instances, supporting parts are within reach of the baby's hands or feet. In the Matsuoka device, the stability of the device depends upon the weight of the baby's body which is placed upon the base, a highly undesirable situation. Some designers have attempted to circumvent this problem by suspending the bottle holder from the infant's crib, but this makes the holder much less versatile.